


Anna's Nightmares

by Cantatrice18



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Angst, Gen, Nightmares, Post-4.03, Psychological Trauma, Season/Series 04 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-27
Updated: 2014-01-27
Packaged: 2018-01-10 06:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1156244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantatrice18/pseuds/Cantatrice18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after 4.03</p><p>Anna is unable to sleep, as memories of what has happened to her and what could yet happen plague her every moment. Each dream presents another scenario of pain, another addition to the hellish world she has now been forced to inhabit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anna's Nightmares

Each night Anna awoke covered in sweat, breathing hard and desperately trying to keep from screaming. Her nightmares, separate and yet connected, created an endless circle of pain and humiliation, reminding her of all that had happened and all that could yet happen. There was no escape from them, even in dreams.

…

She walked through the downstairs hallway as whispers about her filled the servants’ wing – words like ‘wanton’ and ‘ruined’ mixed with epithets of ‘whore’ and ‘adulteress’. Every time she met the probing eyes of those around her she saw their derision, the appalled and disgusted looks on their faces. Her shame had no end.

 

Lady Mary’s look of cold indifference chilled her to the bone. She was unfit for service in a reputable house, her mistress told her emotionlessly. She had shamed them all by allowing herself to be taken advantage of, by not taking precautions to guard her honor. She was no longer welcome at Downton.

 

She sat in the cottage, staring out at the garden as sunlight streamed through the large front window. A child’s laugh interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to see a little boy of about seven, his features a perfect match of Green’s. There was mockery in the child’s gaze as his gleeful laughter changed to the cruel tones of the adult man as he'd held her down and torn her clothing from her body.

 

There was a crowd surrounding the gallows, but she barely noticed them. Above her a corpse swung from a thick and unforgiving rope, inescapably familiar even in death. Her beloved was gone forever, and it was all her fault.

…

Anna buried her face in her pillow, unable to hold back the sobs that wracked her body, and silently thanked Mrs. Hughes for allowing her to move back into the house. She could not bear to let her husband see her like this. His presence, sad and bewildered by her sudden change of behavior, hurt as much as anything Green had done to her. If she’d had a choice at that moment, she would have chosen never to see Mr. Bates again. Her tears ebbed as the darkness of sleep overwhelmed her once more, sending her back to the world of nightmares.


End file.
